San Bernardino shooting: Attacker pledged allegiance to ISIS, officials say

[DemocratSinceBirth]

(CNN)Investigators think that as the San Bernardino, California, attack was happening, female shooter Tashfeen Malik posted a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook, three U.S. officials familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Malik's post was made on an account with a different name, one U.S. official said. The officials did not explain how they knew Malik made the post.

A law enforcement official said it appeared that Wednesday's attack -- which left 14 people dead and 21 wounded before the two attackers, Malik and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, were killed in a shootout with police -- may have been inspired by ISIS. But none of the officials said that ISIS directed or ordered the attack.




http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/04/us/san-bernardino-shooting/index.html

[saturnsring]

1. wether there is a connection or not they sure will try to find one or make one

[B2G]

2. Who is 'they'?

The FBI? Local officials? Obama?

Who?

[saturnsring]

4. maybe, yes and no

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. It seems more like ISIS inspired than ISIS directed...

The challenge is power loves a vacuum. If we, the center left, don't fashion a practical response others will, and it will be even more draconian and unpalatable. That's my fear.

[B2G]

8. Watch the refugee debate explode

Now that one of the terrorists has been shown to be a young woman and mother.

That debate won't end well for us.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. The solution is above my pay grade...

But if we continue to say "there is nothing to see here, move along" it is only going to empower the Trumps and LePens of the world.

[still_one]

30. You are absolutely right.

[Lonusca]

40. Spot on. NT

[Yo_Mama]

28. ISIS has been calling for precisely this. In their theology, declaring a caliphate

meant that it was a religious duty for Muslims to declare allegiance to the caliph.

If this is true, it is deeply significant.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/20378/

ISIS, or IS, believes that pledging allegiance to the new caliph is a duty for every Muslim, and those who fail or refuse to do so shall be deemed as apostates, and will be fought and struck down. This was clearly stated by Adnani, who said, “Beware of splitting the ranks. Those who want to split the ranks, strike their heads with bullets […].”

But what is the meaning of declaring an Islamic caliphate? A Salafi cleric says, “It means that borders and barriers among Islamic countries are now invalid. There will be a single Islamic economic system and currency, and an army to defend it.” He continued, “It also means there will no longer be any subservience to any country, requiring the establishment of universities and factories to make Muslims a major power in all fields.”

[Codeine]

5. Oh good grief.

Why are so many of you so invested in protecting and making excuses for a philosophy that hates people like us? Secular pro-gay feminist liberals are pretty much the worst people on earth to Islamists.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. I would genuinely like to find a middle ground , somewhere...

I would genuinely like to find a middle ground , somewhere between hiding our heads in the sand and demonizing nearly two billion people for the action of a few.

My greatest fear is that by doing nothing we will only empower the forces of reaction whose solutions border on the unthinkable, the unfathomable, and the unacceptable...

[Codeine]

11. Agreed.

Pretending there isn't a problem or playing "No True Scotsmen" every time shit like this goes down is never going to be an adequate or useful response.

And going Full Trump is just as stupid, of course.

The answer has to involve interfacing with the rest of the Muslim community and encouraging and empowering them to root out the filth in their midst.

[KamaAina]

19. While we're at it, we could interface with the rest of the Christian community

and encourage and empower them to root out the filth in their midst.

[Codeine]

24. "Look over there!!" nt

[Whiskeytide]

39. But there is a rather large difference, I think, that ...

... cannot be just ignored. False equivalency-wise, at least.

Christianity has plenty of rotten apples. I agree. But Christian leaders calling for outright violence against the perceived enemies of Christianity is actually rare, and is - usually - pretty quickly marginalized. The closest thing you might see would be calls for violence against medical centers and professionals over the abortion issue. But even there, most of the radicalizing language is veiled, and is done primarily by implication. And - at least superficially - any violence against an abortion provider can be rationalized in a direct line in the twisted mind of the actor as protecting the life of the unborn. It's screwed up, but there is still a twisted logic to it.

Compare that to the radicalized portions of the Islamic faith where an ever growing (or at least it seems to be ever growing) collection of self proclaimed leaders openly advocate such violence. Mass violence. They promise both worldly and heavenly rewards for such acts. They offer training, financing and on-line instruction material (MSNBC did a segment last might on the "How To Build a Bomb in Your Kitchen" article from Al Qeida's Inspire Magazine). And they describe the enemies of Islam as "non-believers", and simply not believing makes you an apostate - thus justifying your death. There is no logic to that belief. And while that radicalized view is certainly quite removed from the mainstream Islamic faith, it is nevertheless out there and openly pushed, and everyone sees it. They WANT to be seen as the only "true" or "pure" Islamic faith - and like it or not, a lot of people see them as just that.

I agree with a post above that nothing justifies demonizing an entire religion and billions of it's followers - but I think we're being naive if we don't recognize that there is something very different about the radicalization processes involved here. Perhaps it is primarily a "perception" problem, but its a real perception, and therefore a real problem.

Can you imagine the backlash if Westboro Baptist published an article describing how to build and plant a pipe bomb at a Gay Pride parade?

[KamaAina]

42. "The closest thing you might see would be calls for violence against medical centers"

"and professionals over the abortion issue."

Like Colorado Springs, just last week. And Dr. Tiller.

[Whiskeytide]

47. And that's just the most recent...

... it goes back to Eric Rudolph and beyond. But those guys took statements by religious and political figures (which were inflammatory, yes, but still fairly vague, non-direct, and plausibly deniable) and twisted them into an excuse to commit violence. I don't recall hearing of any direct instruction from Christian leaders. Clearly we DO have such from Islamic figures (even if only self proclaimed "leaders" and otherwise not representative of the mainstream faith).

I think this difference too often flies under the conscious radar. But people in the West react to it nonetheless.

[Elmergantry]

12. exactly

Progressives would be the first to lose their heads, yet seem to be the first in line to do as you say, make excuses like blaming the us as if that is a solution. The left better get with the program or some else will deal with the solution in a way that we may not like.

Here is one idea block jihadist websites based overseas from being seen here. This is a method of radicalization. And no it is not unconstitutional as the govt has every right to control what is imported.

[Codeine]

16. It's bizarre to me that we don't do that already.

We don't? Wtf?

[Elmergantry]

33. Not that I am aware of.

Seems this asshole was on jihadists websites. So they are accessible.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. I am not nearly as worried about having my dome lobbed off...

I am not nearly as worried about having my dome lobbed off as the demonization and a de facto declaration of war on two billion people and all it entails for the actions of a few...


If we don't come up with a practical response the demagogues will...

[Yo_Mama]

29. Sadly, Muslims who do not accept their theology are their worst enemies.

Secular pro-gay feminist liberals are only the second or third worst people to IS.

[Oneironaut]

3. Surprise surprise

Like it or not, radical Islam is a threat to this country. This had all of the earmarks of an ISIS-inspired attack.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. On motherfuckin' FACEBOOK?

FACEBOOK?

Well, at least one thing's clear: your fears of being constantly surveilled are way overblown.

[B2G]

13. She posted DURING the attack

Not much chance to thwart anything at that point.

[Codeine]

14. Celebrating Islamic Jihad? There's an app for that! nt

[B2G]

15. Lol. Wouldn't surprise me at this point. nt

[GeorgeGist]

49. Not much chance if her posting ...

while shooting.

[Codeine]

18. And I get irritated when my wife interrupts lunch

to Instagram pics of our food! I guess it could be worse.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. ROFL

"Selfie!"

I shouldn't laugh.

[KamaAina]

20. "The officials did not explain how they knew Malik made the post."

Or if they knew.

[B2G]

21. They have her computer and cell phone

Pretty easy to trace that kind of thing.

[pintobean]

23. That made me lol

But, it's sad that it was necessary to post the obvious.

[B2G]

25. I know, right?

Just when you think certain straws are out of reach...

[Yo_Mama]

31. They destroyed their hard drives and cell phones before the attack.

They also deleted some of their social profiles and user accounts. It appears that they were trying to cover contacts? This effort was begun at least the day before.

However Little Miss Jihadi had a new cell phone for the purpose of the attack, found when she was killed. She must have made the post declaring allegiance with that cell phone, and yes they can track it.

[B2G]

38. "Destroyed" doesn't equate to unrecoverable information. nt

[Yo_Mama]

46. If you physically smack them to pieces, it does. One report said they found pieces.

Erasing might be recoverable, but smacked to bits isn't. Supposedly they found some portable drives they are checking.

[Agnosticsherbet]

26. Now it's terrorism. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

The right will explode with fear and suck the left down with it.

[still_one]

32. It is what it is, but I disagree with your assessment on how it will "suck the left down with it"

After the Paris attacks they tried to do that, and failed.

[Agnosticsherbet]

34. The US is not Paris. And check out the French "State of Emergency"

Religious freedom is disappearing.
Massive spying.
Borders watch so people can not travel.

I suspect National Security will be the major focus of the election.
The Republican Senate and House will be investigating, and it won't be pretty.

[still_one]

35. I wasn't referring to the French reaction, but the U.S. reaction after the Paris incident. There

were calls on the right saying we should throw a hundred thousand troops into Syria, and the Democrats rejected that. In addition, the Democrats did NOT back away from accepting Syrian refugees

What happened in San Bernardino was most likely a lone wolf type attack, inspired by jihadist ideology

[Agnosticsherbet]

37. That was Paris. An attack here is going to have political fallout.

I suspect it will push the electorate to the right.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

43. That is why it is incumbent upon us to come up with a responsible response.

What a responsible response is I don't know.

[Agnosticsherbet]

44. Somewhere between having another Tequila Sunrise and an angry mob with pitchforks

No one is going to ask me.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

45. My fear is that the GO(PU) will successfully exploit these fears...

EOM

[Agnosticsherbet]

48. They are already jumping on who will be the best

Comander and Chief, not that any of them Wil do what Washington did as President and lead troops in the field.

[Township75]

27. Can't be true. Obama said we were safe from such an attack

It's going to be fun here for a while

[Blue_Tires]

36. So this is Obama's fault now?

[Township75]

41. Who is blaming him